This invention relates to containers for liquids having a miscible component. More particularly, this invention relates to mixing containers for storing a liquid pharmaceutical.
Containers are known for storing a pharmaceutical having a liquid component and a second component miscible with a liquid component. A typical container of this type is filled with the pharmaceutical and stored for later use. Some pharmaceuticals separate into their individual components when left in storage. For example, liquid NPH insulin has a crystalline faction which must be in solution in order to be effectively administered. During storage in a container, such crystals precipitate out of the liquid solution and must be thoroughly mixed with the liquid faction just prior to administration. Admixture of the crystalline faction and the liquid faction has been achieved in the past in a number of different ways. One such technique is to provide a mixing element which is freely moveable within the container, in a similar manner to the mixing ball found in ordinary aerosol spray cans. This solution has been found to be less than desirable, since the crystalline faction is composed of delicate crystals which should not be mechanically damaged or ruptured during the mixing process. The use of a freely moveable mixing element within the container, however, has been found to damage and rupture the crystals, which severely impairs the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical. Efforts in the past to provide a pharmaceutical mixing container with a freely moveable mixing element devoid of the above disadvantage have not been successful to date.